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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Topic started by: Nettie on Wednesday 19 November 14 10:03 GMT (UK)
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Although I have visited the beautiful land of Scotland myself, this is my first voyage into Scottish records and I have a few questions to ask.
In a tree I am doing for a friend, I found the name Gordon repeating down the generations, often as a middle name and thought it was possibly a mother's maiden name. I was half right, it was a mother's first name. Gordon Arthur is a woman.
How common is Gordon as a female name?
I have found Gordon as marrying Alexander Shewan (1792-1834) in 1819 in Peterhead and a probable second marriage to William Robertson in 1836.
I have found reference to her on her son, Andrew Shewan's, memorial inscription listed a DoD as 20 January, 1845 and she is still named as Gordon Arthur.
Is it the Scottish tradition for women to be known by their maiden name for life and not take their husband's name?
Do you have any quick tips for a novice in which records / sites would be best?
Thanking you in advance.
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Scotlands People have 882 female Gordons born up until 1854 and 9524 from 1855 to the present date. You also find female Johns, Williams, etc.
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Hi Nettie,
To my knowledge Gordon was not a popular girl's name but it was certainly used .
According to Freecen- www.freecen.org there were 61 women in Scotland on the 1841 Census with a first name beginning Gord**** . There are Gordan/Gorden/Gordina/ Gordons and one Gordonata.
I would think they were named for a relative either a male Gordon or perhaps a grandmother with maiden name Gordon.
Sometimes male names were adapted for females - Jacobina/ James, Roberta/Roberta, Davidina/Davina/David etc.
I thought I would find your Gordon Arthur/Shewan/Robertson on the 1841 but can't see her ???
Regarding the use of maiden name - married women were not obliged to change their name to their husbands in Scotland. Some women kept their maiden name always. Some reverted to their maiden name on widowhood.
Have you used Scotlands People www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk - that is where you can view records online. There is a small charge for credits.
Looby :)
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Thanks, J11 and Looby, much appreciated.
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I have a William Lawrie and his wife Stuart Henderson McDonald married in 1919, Perthshire which is a wee bit unusual.
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Definitely unusual. I guess this reinforces the 'do not assume anything' motto we doing family history should be living by.
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Scotlands People have 882 female Gordons born up until 1854 and 9524 from 1855 to the present date. You also find female Johns, Williams, etc.
Bear in mind that when the SP web site counts given names, it includes middle names. So some (probably most) of the 10,136 females with given name Gordon will have it as a middle name.
Several names that are now generally regarded as male names were occasionally given to girls - Gordon, Douglas(s), Cameron, Kerr and Nicholas spring to mind, but I'm sure there are others. However most of them were in the 18th century or earlier. They became very rare as first names by the 19th century.
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I have a William Lawrie and his wife Stuart Henderson McDonald married in 1919, Perthshire which is a wee bit unusual.
Definitely unusual. I guess this reinforces the 'do not assume anything' motto we doing family history should be living by.
That’s very true.
When I first saw the name in SP I thought surely some mistake.
1911 census: Perthshire
1911 MCDONALD STUART F 10 KINCARDINE (PERTH) /PERTH
1919 marriage: Perthshire
1919 LAWRIE WILLIAM MCDONALD STUART H S KINCARDINE (PERTH) /PERTH
Also that is a good point by Forfarian.
Most of the names in SP will be middle names.
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We have an Andrew ARTHUR, tailor in Peterhead in our tree in that era who had a daughter called Margaret who was born approx 1800 (based on the census). I wonder whether this could be the same family?
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There is a baptism for Gordon Arthur female in 1799 in Peterhead, father Andrew Arthur and mother not named. Not a common name at all, so I suspect the 1819 marriage to Alexander Shewan and the 1836 marriage to William Robertson are both her.
Ancestry has an entry in the Find a Grave Index for Gordon Arthur dated 1846 buried in Peterhead Cemetery.
1841 census has Gordon Robertson wife with William Robertson and two young children, including a 4 month old daughter named Gordon Robertson. William was a blacksmith and they are in Marischel Street, Peterhead,
1851 census has William Robertson a blacksmith of Marishal Street, Peterhead with several children including 10year old Gordon Robertson. There is also an Alexander Shewan age 25 in the same household described as son in law - probably means stepson.
So it looks as if Gordon Arthur was married twice and died in 1845.
It wasn't common to give females what is more traditionally a male first name but it certainly did happen and was often a name that was also a surname. I have a Wilson Haddow on my tree who was female.
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Thank you JM Strachan.
I am looking at the 1841 Census on FreeCen, and it has M next to the two Gordons, so there's been a transcription error.
Living at the house next door to Gordon ROBERTSON (nee Arthur) in Marischel St are Andrew (the tailor) and Margaret "ARTHER" along with their son, Andrew, a druggist/surgeon and their grandson Alexander McKINNON (who has a younger brother called Gordon, but he wasn't staying with the grandparents on census night), plus a couple of sailors and a journeyman and a servant.
In the 1851 census it appears that William Robertson has remarried to Elspet. He is 44 and she is 23.
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Deceasedonline has Gordon Arthur and her husband and some children buried together in Peterhead. It also has her parents, Andrew Arthur and Margaret
Lendrum, some siblings, a cousin etc in another entry.
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The name was passed down.
Gordon Arthur's daughter, Gordon Robertson, had a daughter called Gordon Arthur Ritchie.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XYR8-W7K
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Nettie - I have the will of George Arthur, farmer at Longside and formerly shipmaster of Peterhead. He died in 1867 and in his will he leaves his estate to his nephews Andrew and Robert Shewan, shipmasters of London.
I believe that Gordon Arthur had (at least) two sisters - Jane who died in infancy and is buried with her parents in Peterhead and Margaret - and (at least) three brothers, Andrew, Thomas and George. Andrew was a surgeon/druggist. Thomas was a seaman.
The three brothers all had daughters. I've found baptisms for two daughters of Andrew, and a daughter of George, but at the time Andrew and George weren't married. I don't know what became of these daughters. Thomas had a daughter called Isabella who lived to a ripe old age. I haven't confirmed who Isabella Arthur's mother was, but I do know the maternal grandmother was Isabella Rae who had children by two marriages - the first husband was a Riach and the second was a McKinnon.
I think Gordon Arthur's maternal grandparents were Thomas Lendrum and Jean/Jane Cassie of Cruden and that Mary Lendrum who married George Barclay was the maternal aunt of Gordon, Margaret, Andrew, George and Thomas. I think that another aunt was Elizabeth Lendrum who married John Lillie. This is about one of their descendants:
http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/bbs/Learning/Bryohistory/Bygone%20Bryologists/DAVID%20LILLIE.rtf
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Here's another female named Gordon in Peterhead.
Cassie. Robert, joiner in Peterhead and Gordon Lamb his wife, a son, Robert, born 30 May 1854 bap. 17 Jun 1854 before Robert Warrender and William Davidson.
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Hi Hurford,
Sincere thanks for your contributions. Sorry that I left these responses unanswered, life got very hard during 2015-1016 and I abandoned a lot of things, especially genealogy.
I do appreciate your time.
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I hope 2017 has been a better year Nettie.
I think I was mistaken about George Arthur not being married to the mother of his daughter.
Please PM me if you'd like further information on the family, as I may be able to help or put you in touch with descendants.